1300 cals & still hungry!

kas1021

I'm on a plan where i can have 1300 cals a day, but I always feel really hungry by the time I reach my goal! not just kind of hungry because i have nothing else to do but the kind of hungry where i cant even concentrate on school or work or anything. I recently reevaluated my goals and moved from 1430 to 1200...but 1200 was far too low so i redid it again and got 1300. i'm wondering if maybe i should up it some more or just suck it up? haha i'm 5'5" and currently 188 lbs. I only have time to work out 3 times a week and when i do i eat most of my exercise cals haha does anyone have any suggestions? I stopped eating just about anything junk food and it was surprisingly easy to do once i realized how much better i felt without it. i'm constantly snacking on healthy foods, high fiber foods, and im always drinking water. i just dont know what to do. i want "real food". lol

Lady_C_the_1st

Hi, do you always get your protein? Protein helps keep you fuller for longer. x

sunshinela

i hear ya! our body sometimes craves more and we are not sure what to do. one huge thing i do is drink a 8oz glass of water when im hungry and wait 10-20 min . if im still hungry, my body is saying eat and should. you should eat 5 small meals a day to up ur metabolism and u will like it cuz feels like satisfying hunger cuz eating constantly. but has to be small portions and healthy otherwise its not healthy. the zone diet is a good way of life to not feel deprived its a balance of protein,healthy carbs,and good fats to make u feel full longer.

1300 calories is not a lot but is a good start for weight loss. a woman of ur height need about 1100-1300 depending on activity level. why can you only workout 3x a week? schedule? diet is 90 percent of it anyway but you should probably find a way to make time for urself to get in at least 30 min of cardio 5x a week and a few days a week for strength training which helps u burn fat longer. hope some of that helps.when im still hungry i have water, green tea, and force myself to snack slowly (chewing slow) on veggies or miso soup after or before my real meals to keep full .sometimes its just our bad habits engraved in us to make us hungry. good luck!!

kas1021

yeah. ive actually gone over my protein a lot. ive been trying to get as close to 1300 cals without going over but i usually go over my protein and sugar.

pianoteacherevan

You might be having cravings other than hunger disguised as hunger. If you say you go over your sugar a lot, you might be craving more sugar, and not necessarily more food. I'd say try to reduce your sugar, and make sure you're drinking a lot of plain water. That might help solve your hunger problem. A lot of times people mistake hunger for dehydration. That's just my opinion, but it's worth considering.

pianoteacherevan

And one more thing, I think you're pretty cute the way you are right now. But keep up the new life change, and your mind will adjust.

kas1021

I was an athlete my whole life so i definitely know how the dehydration goes. i drinks tons of water! ive been taking the baby steps to cut back on the sodium and sugar- focusing more on the sodium lately. maybe it is the sugar. that excess sugar mostly comes from bananas ( love em haha) and vita water. i guess i should cut back on that. sigh. haha

and as for my only working out 3 times a week its because of school and work. i'm going to school for my cna and rna and hha. thats a lot of class time and clinical hours. and i'm working grooming horses for an elderly woman who can no longer care for them. but i'm taking a cardio kickboxing class twice a week thats an hour long and its a killer workout. then i go to the gym and usually do another hour or so. and i take one day on the weekend and take my dogs to the beach. its really all i feel like i can manage without feeling dead on my feet all the time.

Tofuheart

One thing that might help is to split your proteins. I'm not sure how are you dividing your meals up but for me I tend to eat my protein for breakfast and then for dinner. It tends to fill me up that way. I also found I was ravenous for the first two weeks on my diet then my body seemed to regulate itself. If you are into sugar then it might be why you are feeling hungry. It's a hard one to curb but once you do you won't miss it.

Good luck!

jaycee76

I would say at the amount you want to lose that you should go for more calories and not less. I would definatley stay at the 1440 or more for a few weeks. Have you checked what your BMR is? Check it on a few websites and get an average from a few as the one on here is quite a bit lower than others. I would say initially not to go below your BMR average because this is still a good deficit of calories. Once you get used to eating less then you could maybe try cutting them further.

jaycee76

I would say at the amount you want to lose that you should go for more calories and not less. I would definatley stay at the 1440 or more for a few weeks. Have you checked what your BMR is? Check it on a few websites and get an average from a few as the one on here is quite a bit lower than others. I would say initially not to go below your BMR average because this is still a good deficit of calories. Once you get used to eating less then you could maybe try cutting them further.

I just did a quick check on here out of curiosity and your BMR on here is just over 1600 calories. Maybe you should consider that as a starting point? Try it for a few weeks and see how you go

kwardklinck

Do you eat salads? I was having that problem until I added a salad with my lunch. It's not that many more calories but it fills me up. I also like to eat kidney beans, lima beans, etc. They are full of protein and fiber and help me feel full longer. I also drink lots of hot drinks like tea, coffee etc. When your body gets used to eating that little it will be hard for you to eat more. Just be patient and bear with it and soon you'll be filling up on those 1300 cals a day.

LoraBenzie

I agree with Jaycee above, you appear to be eating far too few calories. Just remember a woman's GDA is 2000 calories, 1600 is still lower than that. Don't start out jumping right in thinking you can just drop straight down to 1200 calories and your body will just take that. Do you have any idea how many calories you would eat before? If it was higher than 2000 and you'ce dropped straight down it might seem like a good thing, but your body needs time to adjust. I started eating about 1800 and dropped 100 calories every week, giving meself an allowance of 50 calories in the first 2 days of the week to allow my body to adjust.

I'm no health professional this is just how I kept my hunger and cravings away!

Hope it helps!

amheuer

I'm in the same boat - I only get 1310 calories and the first week I went to bed starving. Slowly I adjusted, but still have days of bad hunger. I, who never really worked out ever, find myself WANTING to work out just so I could eat more! Great motivator! I, too go way over on sugar, but I hate plain water and usually eat quadruple my sugar amount. Sigh. I usually end up scouring the cupboards by dinner trying to find something I can afford to eat. It's a work in progress...

jillybeanruns

Up your calories for certain. I'm not sure what you eat, but I eat tonnes of snacks a day. Green and red peppers, carrots, banana, orange, almonds, goldfish, etc... every single day. Not sure if that works for you, but it certainly helps me out by eating so many different snacks. I would also suggest increasing your water as well.

Good luck!

mrsbeck

I agree that you would probably do better at 1440, but if you feel that you need to reduce your calories, I say go ahead...just go slowly. Spend three or four weeks at 1400, and see how you're doing there. If you need to go down from there, go to 1350 for a few weeks. Doing it gradually will make it a lot easier. And keep eating the exercise calories!

Also, if you have less than 20 pounds to lose, you may want to consider going higher on your cals, and accepting a very slow rate of weightloss. That last 10-20 lbs is rather jealously guarded by your body. That's your famine insurance!

Whatever you do, just remember that your body doesn't work mathmatically...you have to tweak things here and there, and you may only find what works for you through trial and error.

mrsbeck

Ack, I just re-read the thread...I didn't notice your post about your activity level before I wrote my reply. Disregard my reply, please! :laugh:

I think you should be at 1500-1600 calories given the level of activity you mention. I understand that it's mentally difficult to increase your calories--you feel like you'll gain weight for sure. But, just my opinion, I think you're feeling hungry because you ARE hungry!

Do it slow, and see what results you get. Go to 1500...if you still feel hungry there, go to 1550 and then 1600...I bet somewhere in there, you'll start losing. Just remember, you'll need about three weeks at each level to see any results. And obviously, make your calories count. Lean protein, lots of fiber...You seem to know what you need to eat to be healthy...I think you just need more of it.:flowerforyou:

jaycee76

Up your calories for certain. I'm not sure what you eat, but I eat tonnes of snacks a day. Green and red peppers, carrots, banana, orange, almonds, goldfish, etc... every single day. Not sure if that works for you, but it certainly helps me out by eating so many different snacks. I would also suggest increasing your water as well.

Good luck!

LOL Do you eat the goldfish straight from the bowl??

jillybeanruns

Up your calories for certain. I'm not sure what you eat, but I eat tonnes of snacks a day. Green and red peppers, carrots, banana, orange, almonds, goldfish, etc... every single day. Not sure if that works for you, but it certainly helps me out by eating so many different snacks. I would also suggest increasing your water as well.

Good luck!

LOL Do you eat the goldfish straight from the bowl??

Oh you know it! While they're still squirming too